Date or No Date?

I wouldn't say "Must" but I do use the date on my watches more than I don't. I would be lost not knowing the date and I love not having to pull out my phone .

Most of my watches are time only but the few I have with dates, I keep in my watch winder. I do find dates helpful though, just not a must. Also I'm not a fan of cyclopses to magnify the date as I feel it takes visual real estate away from the dial 

I strongly prefer having a date. But it's clearly not a must, as I have several no-date watches. Quartz is always an option for your date watches.

Changed the wording to remove "must have"....really like the feedback so far...

I know the date before I walk out the door, and I don't need my watch to tell me that.  The date window also can mess up the dial symmetry.

I switch between my watches too often so I spend more time setting the date than checking it

I’m the same way, but I also typically buy watches with the date function. I agree with OP though. On a diver I don’t see the point. 

On a diver that just used for diving , Yea. On a dress diver/ desk diver, I would take the date. I'm def not a diver lol but I love the fact that I have watches that can go 200 - 300 meters deep. 

A date is a must for me because when I have to sign off forms and authorisations I'll want to double-confirm even if i  read the date in the morning.When $ is involved...

Even on off dates, the date is important to be easy to access for the way I live my life...

Also save myself the embarrassment when I have to fill in a form and struggling to get the phone out of my pocket, the receptionist looks at their SMARTWATCH and then tells you the date.

I avoid watches without a date, unless it's just a fun occasional wear watch. For about 30 years I have been reading the date on my watch, and I have no plans to change. 

I like 4:30 dates because I like having my watch hour markers.

That being said if you give me the choice of 3:00 date window, 6:00 date window, or no date I'll pick no date everytime.

THAT being said: on mechanical watches where I have to wind/set them everytime I wear one (generally just on a weekend I wear G-Shocks to work) I will always prefer no date.

I don't NEED the date. But I won't avoid it, either. If a watch that I like has the date feature, so be it. If it doesn't, that's ok, too. As @SurferJohn said, I know the date anyway. And if I forget the date, I can always look at my phone. But the ease of finding the date on the watch dial is also decidedly more convenient than fishing my iPhone out of my pocket. Long story short, I can take it or leave it. 😀

Solution: consolidate your collection to 3-4 watches with at least 3days of power reserve each. That should get you through a weekly rotation no problem. 😜

OMG!  This post is written with me in mind.  I'm a righteous pool of water that's crashing down on the firey opposition to a date on divers.  

I skin dive! I ocean swim!  I kayak!  I windsurf! I sail small and large boats!  I camp off grid where a phone doesn't connect!  I live a 10 minute walk to the ocean and a 150m outdoor swimming pool!

Time for a swim!

Grrr. no date, but such a nice color!

So, my collection ever so slightly leans towards divers and sport watches for their water resistance and ability to handle the outdoorsy sports.

and yet, I WISH ALL MY WATCHES HAD THE DATE!  It drives me crazy when I wear one of my no-date watches.  Sometimes, sadly, I'll avoid buying a gorgeous watch when it doesn't have a date.

My work life means constantly writing the date on official and legal documents.  My work life means random hours and days blending into nights so it's easy to loose track.  It's a sublime convenience to glance at my wrist to double check the date is correct.  Digging out a phone that isn't always handy is a huge pain the butt.   

I'm one of the (few?) who lives in and loves sports watches, and always wants them with a date.  I totally get the symmetry argument.   So prefer a color matched and subtle date, no cyclops, and in a way that doesn't mess up the balance.  

Nice collection 😎

For me date or day/date complications are not a must but they are also not unnecessary.

I don't mind setting the date, but I also don't mind if it's not there.

I am not hugely fussed either way, though I prefer a date, or even a day date, when it comes to it. Perpetual calendar sometimes even. In fact, if I could find a reasonable watch that showed ‘beats’ I would probably get it.

Why?

Because a watch measures time. The logical end point would be some kind of decorative item for the wrist, shorn of all things that need periodic setting. Something on the… well. It’s a bracelet isn’t it? That’s what we are left with.

Two out of the four watches I own have a date complication. I wouldn’t say I desperately need it, but I do find it very convenient to have it. Especially when I’m dating something for work or simply writing the date in a journal.

I like having the date on my watch set especially if I’m away from home for a few days.

I wrestle with this one a bit. I really enjoy the simplicity of a no-date and how it is stubborn in only providing the time versus our other devices that give us thousands of pieces of information. It's easy enough to track the date on a no-date dive watch with the bezel even if it takes an extra second to look at. However, I do enjoy the date when executed well. It is very useful to take a quick glance and can prevent the cell phone from coming out, which is always a good thing. I think it depends on the watch. In these two Sinns, I think the right choice was made with each one regarding the date/ no date. 

Seems to be a polarizing issue!

I don't mind the date, and for me, I am happy to set it on my contraption that tracks time, for which the date is a related aspect, and I enjoy setting it to be accurate on that basis, as I appreciate the ability of the complication.

It would seem from some comments that it's not really about the date per-say, but actually the level of functionality presented by the complication...

I wonder if the 'no date' crowd all have rudimentary watches in their collection, and would also veer away from chrono's for example.

I myself have a limit to what I think my watch should do... I do not like the more complicated breitling's for example, where there's sometimes insane and unreadable levels of functionality that's seeming there 'just because it can be'

Sport watch = date 

2 or 3 hander Dress watch  = no date 

Hiya Brian 

I'm a ‘to date’ kinda fellow. 
My interest is mainly digital watches which almost always has the date, day and month displayed on the screen. Some of the new Casios even allow for the date display to read DDMM which is how we roll down under. 
Like another has said, I use my watch to check the date. Often one needs to write the date in life and a glance at the wrist to check, is quick and easy. 

Wouldn't say it’s an absolute MUST, but I definitely prefer a date on anything I wear on a regular basis.

Retired! they all saturdays.. need day. When is pension cheque? need date too. Sorry. just had to rub it in.

I don't think I've ever owned a no-date watch, but I have one on my wish list currently. Like a lot of things that people get bent out of shape over (i.e. date magnifiers, screw-down vs. push-pull crown, etc.), I'm rather neutral. But I can relate to the inconvenience of setting the date on a stopped watch. That said, I find myself referencing the date on my watches frequently. I can mentally keep track of what day of the week it is all day long, but for whatever reason, I just can't remember the day of the month for the life of me sometimes. So in that way, the date feature is rather helpful for me. 

I need the date, I just need it 🔥

THIS is exactly how I feel when I see watches without the date. Nice collection btw. 

Date is a nice thing to have and I prefer watches with a date, but I would also buy a watch without a date if I like it... 

The date complication is nice for my daily watch, but not needed for anything else.